Posted on 12/28/2006 10:08:25 AM PST by kawaii
28 December 2006, 11:25
Primate of the Orthodox Church in America joins with the Moscow Patriarchate in assessment of Bishop Basil (Osborne)
Moscow, December 28, Interfax - Metropolitan Herman of All America and Canada expressed his solidarity with the Russian Orthodox Church in the assessment of actions of the former administrator of the Diocese of Sourozh Bishop Basil (Osborne) whom the Patriarchate of Constantinople received in its jurisdiction.
‘One of the important safeguards of church order has been the general observance (in the countries beyond the traditionally Orthodox lands - IF) of canonical norms with regard to transfers of clergy from one canonical jurisdiction to another,’ Metropolitan Herman writes in his letter to Patriarch Alexy II of Moscow and All Russia commenting on the situation in Great Britain.
Earlier Patriarch Alexy sent a letter to the Primate of the Orthodox Church in America and the statement of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church dated 19 July 2006 on the situation in the Diocese of Sourozh, official site of the Moscow Patriarchate wrote Wednesday.
Metropolitan Herman remarked: ‘Canonical peace and order have been maintained, even within the contradictions of territorially overlapping jurisdictions, when clergy and parishes have transferred from one Church to another only with the proper canonical releases.’
‘Thus, we have seen every violation of these norms as significantly undermining Orthodox collaboration and coordination, indeed as a contradiction of the “unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace,” the letter reads.
World orthodoxy may not universally recognize the OCA's Autocephaly, but stating that it is not canonical would mean they are out of communion with the OCA, would it not?
Which churches have declared this?
orthodox wiki
In the early 1960s, the Metropolia (as it was then known) resumed communication with the Patriarch of Moscow, and in 1970 full communion was restored. At that time, the Patriarch of Moscow officially granted the OCA autocephaly, or self-governing administrative status. The OCA's autocephaly is not currently recognized by all autocephalous Orthodox Churches, including the Church of Constantinople. Churches that do recognize its autocephaly are mainly those in former Communist lands (most of which had thus come under the influence of the Church of Russia), including the Church of Russia, the Church of Bulgaria, the Church of Poland, the Church of Georgia, and the Church of the Czech Lands and Slovakia. According to apologists for OCA autocephaly, it is common for recognition of autocephaly to be granted belatedly; however opponents regard the grant as not being within the purview of Moscow's prerogatives (see Byzantine response to OCA autocephaly).
In Libertyville, Ill., with a large Serbian population, the Divine Liturgy is offered in Slavonic and English separately. I have been to churches with mixed-language services and I can tell you that it is not the ideal situation. It is broken and for those who understand both languages it is very repetitive.
I prefer either completely English or Slavonic service because I understand both languages. I enjoy Greek liturgies and can follow them sufficiently by rote and by rudimentary understanding of liturgical Greek buzzwords.
But the fullness of the Divine Liturgy is achieved by participating actively in the entire Divine Liturgy uninterruptedly.
Some parishes try to accommodate heterogenious groups of Orthodox believers and that is charitable and good. But they should encourage these groups to either get one of their priests to visit or to establish their own parish.
A large number of Russians in my former OCA church is planning to do just that. My Serbian parish just got a full-time priest, so that was not an option either.
The weight of tradition is not to be discounted. In Serbia, vernacular is allowed in the service but most people prefer Slavonic with Apostol and Gospel readings and the homily in vernacular.
With Hispanic population increase a mathematical certainty, English may not be the only language of our children's children. So, I owuldn't place my bets on English as something set in stone.
The Jews did not find it hopeless to retain Hebrew as biblical language even though most don't speak it, and Israel re-established Hebrew that has been forgotten for more than 2,000 years, even when Christ walked the earth, and is now a living language once again.
Never forsake your roots to accommodate the world. Rejecting the language of your culture is like disowning your parents and grandparents. It means cutting off your own memory, denying where you came from and ultimately who you are. Some people don't mind losing their identity. Others do. Cultural preservation of a nation is not chauvinism.
Rather, American insistence on relativity and mixing of everything and all is patently counter-cultural, and chauvinistic in its own right. Do not think for a moment that there is no such thing as American culture. You better believe there is one, and it resists any change.
No-brainer. This is a desperate bid for relevance on the OCA's part.
M. Herman is right about this point, but you can be sure that the MP wasn't speed-dialing H for 'Herman, Help!'
The MP could do everyone a favor and pull the OCA's meaningless autocephaly.
Personally, I just want to see a canonical resolution to the situation in America. Whatever is properly agreed upon, I, like all obedient Orthodox, will accept.
An unlikely scenario, but I agree with your sentiments. Regardless, it is the MP's decision to make.
I'm not an expert in such things... how can it be canonical if major Patriarchs don't recognize it's autocephally... if they don't recognize it's autocephally what See to they feel they are a part of?
(Noting that I personally have no probs with the OCA [maybe some with the leadership, and certain immigrants need not stop by parishes but not the OCA as a whole], the parish I was baptised in was an OCA parish, and I sometimes still visit.
And then what, the OCA get's rolled into the MP churches in America? (This would seem to me to clash with most folks in the OCA... the MP seems to want more ethnic parishes, and the OCA seems to what yet-another-were-really-really-Americans-no-seriously parish)
Even if the OCA was absorbed into the MP, there'd still be disagreements as to the canonical situation in America between the EP and MP.
Well, it's like Florida proclaims independence from the US but only Uganda recognizes it. As far as the world is concerned, Florida still belongs to the US.
So does the rest of the world figure them to be ROCOR (whom they could be argued to have split from) or the MP (whom they could be argued to be an extension of)?
I don't know if it os or isn't uncanonical only what official sites I've posted quotes from say. that said the situation in america bizzare. it would seem to me if there is to be a single church in america it should be under the russian church but frankly I'm opposed to there being a single church it would just step on lots of toes and alienate a lot of people.
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